Located in the heart of Brisbane, The Jindalee Hotel serves as a prominent local establishment, primarily categorized as a casino, but functioning as a comprehensive hotel and pub, offering dining and entertainment options.
Feedback for The Jindalee Hotel is quite varied, indicating a venue with both notable strengths and significant areas for improvement, particularly concerning its culinary offerings and consistency. While aspects like atmosphere and friendly staff receive praise, the food quality and value for money frequently draw criticism.
The culinary journey at The Jindalee Hotel appears to be a roller coaster. Several patrons have expressed disappointment with the food's quality and value:
However, it's not all negative on the food front:
The menu, in general, is perceived as "quite expensive" by some, with the portions not always justifying the price point.
A unique, and somewhat perplexing, comment noted the hotel as "very picturesque" with an "option of purchasing food to feed farm animals and turtles," and also having a "great cafe." This particular observation stands out and might refer to a specific, perhaps lesser-known, family-friendly amenity or an entirely different part of the establishment.
Despite the mixed reviews on food, the hotel's atmosphere and ambiance consistently receive positive remarks. Patrons appreciate the environment, noting the "great acoustics" that allow for easy conversation and a generally pleasant "ambiance."
The service experience at The Jindalee Hotel appears to be inconsistent. While some reviewers found staff to be "lethargic" and ineffective at handling complaints (with one specific instance of a manager, Scott, reportedly ignoring a follow-up), there are strong commendations for individual staff members.
Given the criticisms regarding food quality and portion sizes relative to price, value for money emerges as a significant concern for many visitors. The sentiment is that for the prices charged, the quality and quantity of the meals often fall short of expectations for a pub/hotel setting.
On a practical note, parking at The Jindalee Hotel is reported to be "easy," and its proximity to Coles is considered a convenient aspect.
The Jindalee Hotel offers a pleasant atmosphere and can provide moments of excellent service, particularly from dedicated staff members. However, prospective diners should be aware of the highly variable food quality and the perception of high prices for what is often delivered. While some dishes hit the mark, others miss significantly. It might be a good spot for a casual drink or to enjoy the ambiance, but expectations for a consistently high-quality and value-for-money dining experience should be tempered.
We had lunch here recently. The food was very ordinary. I had the brisket nachos and they used the worst nacho chips. Tasteless and dry. Not a nice dish. The other half had a schnitzel. He said it was very dry and flavourless. The pizza was nice and our friend loved his steak sandwich. We loved the atmosphere and the acoustics was great so we could hear everyone talking. Parking was easy. We liked the ambiance of this place so we'll go back and try another dish some time. Menu was quite expensive.
Very picturesque with the option of purchasing food to feed farm animals and turtles. Also a great cafe.
I've had to reduce my rating - recently the food has been pretty poor quality. The pie was awful, the $38 seafood basket was mostly batter. The vegan burger was the only decent thing, and I found a hair stuck in the pattie. Oh well, it has good staff on the floor, and it's close to Coles.
I have been many times, I have had good experiences and sometimes not so good but have remained loyal, now of late the place and the food has gone seriously downhill. I visited for lunch on Sunday with a friend. We ordered the pie, a meat pie that was $26, it was suppose to come with mash, runny peas and onion rings, so for this reason we both ordered it. We were feeling hungry and on a cold day thought it would be a filling dish- but a ridiculous plate turned up at the table holding a pie and a smear of mash, under the pie and a tiny spoonful of runny peas on the side of the pie and only 3 onions rings sitting on the peas, seriously ridiculous. Meaning to look like a pie - Al carte but why in the world would any person pay $26 each for a meat pie at the Jindalee hotel to receive less peas, less potato, than you get at a bakery with your pie, and at a bakery price maybe the highest price of $9 to be generous.The expectation paying $26 each would be a spoonfuls of mash, with peas and let’s say 6 onion rings with a pie- the pie was absolutely nothing special and definitely was not a good gourmet pie. This is absolutely robbery and really embarrassing that the Jindalee hotel expect $26 per person for a pie on their menu and not serve that pie as one would presume. A pie with mash, peas and onion rings on the side, a hearty pub meal.Trying to make it look fancy so they don’t have to give you a reasonable serving is a disgrace. A pie is just a pie and not worth $26 purely because they make it look artsy, using as little sides as possible- so annoyed. The staff are lethargic, no energy and bring drinks to the table without a glass or ice. People are doing it tough and expect to pay a reasonable amount of money for a reasonable serving of food, the staff have no idea how to handle a complaint, the place is a huge disappointment. Good on you, Jindalee Hotel! for grabbing $52 for 2 pies on a plate- great effort! I certainly do not recommend spending your hard earned money at the Jindalee hotel.The response from the manager seen on my review was not followed up, I did contact him at his request but he chose to ignore my contact-seems like his response was all for the readers sake to make it look like he cared, he didn’t, prefers to loose customer’s great work, Scott! Disgraceful.
We came here for lunch yesterday and had the best time. Kelsey the manager made sure we had everything we needed and was so helpful and friendly. She helped the kids pick out what they wanted to eat and made everything so easy. Whatever they're paying her isn't enough for the effort she put in to giving us a good experience.